Electrically operated automatic cushion filling machine



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ELECTRICALLY OPERATED AUTOMATIC CUSHION FILLING MACHINE Filed Aug. 21, 1.945 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 35%, mm M. H. LA c5, E 5@Q W11 ELECTRICALLY OPERATED AUTOMATIC CUSHION FILLING MACHINE Filed Aug. 2]., 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR MARTIN H. LANG Patented May 30, 1950 owl-ca ELEGTRIGALLY :OPERATED AUTOMATIC CUSHION FILLING MACHINE Martin H.L"ang, Minneapolis, Minn.

ApplicationAugustZl, 1945, Serial No.611,711

1 3 Claims.

My invention relates to an electrically op'-- erated cushion ,fillingmmachine providing automatic adjustment for the cushion. filler re ceptacle.

The receptacle is adjustable .for expansion contraction for-different size cushions.

The receptacle is. electricallyoperated tocompress the filler material .within the receptacle; This. permits the cushion cover to be easily slipped. overthe endofthe receptacle; whereupon the electrically operated ejecting plunger will force the filler material intoth'e cushion. casing or. cover and automatically eject the filled. cushion from. the machine.

The machine is also provided with a hand ad: justment to expand and contract the depth of the receptacle which receives the cushionfiler material. This adjustment is located at. the rear of the receptacle and by means of suitable guide shafts .the sections of the cover are held in line so that the cover of the receptacle maybe readily adjusted to guage the width of the same. It is. a feature of my machine to provide a screw with right and left hand threadsfwhich extend transverselybeneath the receptacle for the filler ma terial and I provide hearings in which the threads of the right and left hand screws operate. bearings are split -to permit the screw to be replaced or removed when desired. The bearings are attached to the outer lower sections of the receptacle of the machine. The .center portions of the receptacle are held in fixed central position to maintain the same centrally. The upper. center section is adjustable. to raise or lower the same and the two outsidesections of the top are.

adapted tobe adjusted with the central. section. depth of the receptacle when the same are ad justed for. depth ofthe receptacle.

The ejecting plunger is operated by an electric motor which. is connected through a .foot operated clutch tocause the plunger to push .the

filler material out ofthe receptacle when the.

casing of the cushion is slipped over the. open end. of the receptacle and inthis. cycle of operationthe ejecting plunger. iswithdrawn. to inoperative position after it .has. pushedlfthe filler material. out. of the receptacle. Thusthe operatormay control .the .ejectingof the filler. material with.

thelcushion. casing .by a .foot operation leaving the operators handslfreeito receive the cushion. as it is ejected from the machine.

It isalsoanimportant. feature of .my electrically. operatedqmachine wherein I provide. auto? matic operating meanslforelectrically. operating. the. mechanismwhichi expands. .or contracts the Thesereceptacle which holds. the fillermaterial of -the cushion. In this operatingmechanism I provide.

adjustable stops which automaticall'ytcontrol the electric motor to stop the same either imthfe ex.- panding or contracting operation ofthe receptacle. Thus when the operator wishes .tomake. certain size cushions, it is only necessary to set these stops in proper position so .thatthe re-- ceptacle may be electrically expandedflorlcontracted in the operation of my cushion filling. machine.

It is also a feature of my machine .to provide a baseframe which is made upyof lightweight.

materialcsuchas sheet-steel .for the sides.and-

angle iron members for the corners. Inthis manner I materially reduce. the weight of. machine and yet provide a strongsturdyucon, struction which will withstand the wear-and tearin the operation of the machine It is alsoka feature of my machineto provide-a hinged means for the top sections of the receptacle together.

with levers for. operating the receptacle to open. the same so that the cushion fillingmaterial-may. be readily inserted in the receptacle.

Tliefeatures and details of 'my invention. will.

be more fully and clearly hereinafter set forth.

In the drawings forming .part of thespecification:

Figure lis a perspective of my cushionfilling machine looking toward the side and front 'of the same with the receptacle for the filler mate rial in closed position.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of my cushion. fillingmachine showing the receptacle in closed position in full lines and showing the. receptacle open in dotted lines.

Figure 3 is a plan view of my cushion filliiig' machine with. the rear portion and a front portion partiall broken. away.

Figure 4 is afront elevation. of my cushion. filling machine showing the .front -wa1l"..of lthe.

cushion filling, machine .isi formed with a sectional receptacle A which isexpandable and.

contractable for. difierent size cushions mutton Dressing the cushion filler material within the same just prior to filling the casing of the cushion. The machine is provided with a base portion B which is made up of a pair of side members l9 having an angular rim formed about the side plate i2 which forms the side member Ill. The front of the base B is closed by the plate I 3 which may be removed when desired to give access to the mechanism concealed within the base.

The filler receptacle A is formed in sections to provide the top l4 and the bottom portion l5. The top portion M' is formed with angular corners l6 which are adjustable and are supported on the shafts ll which extend through the bearings l9 that are fixed to the corner member it.

The central portion l9 of the top l4 of the receptacle A is held in fixed position by the bracket arm 26 which is formed on the forwardly projecting bracket arms 2| so that the center portion I9 is held in a fixed central position by the bracket arms 2|.

The top M with its side sections l6 and the central portion I9 are adapted to be raised and lowered by the bracket arms by means of the operating screw 22 which raises and lowers the bracket member 2| on the vertical shafts 23. By means of this adjustment, the top I4 of the receptacle A may be raised or lowered to adjust the depth of the receptacle.

The lower portion E of the receptacle A is formed with a fixed central portion 24 which extends in line with and is positioned directly be-- low the central portion IQ of the top. This portion 24 is secured at the back of the machine to the frame portion 25 to hold the central por tion 24 at fixed central position. The lower portion l5 of the receptacle A is also provided with side angle portions 26 which are similar to the portions I6 of the top. The portions 26 of the bottom overlap the portions which depend from the corner members H5 at 21 and by means of the plate arms 28 which engage against the outer sides of the corner members 16. The corner members l6 are adapted to follow with the corner members 26 in the expansion and contraction of the side of the receptacle A.

I provide a pair of driving screws 29 which are supported in the sides 55 of the base B as illustrated in Figure 4 positioned below the receptacle A. The screws 29 are formed with right and left hand threads and operate in the threaded bearings 36. The bearings 36 are secured by the bracket arms 3! to the bottom of the corner members 26. When the drive screws 29 are operated, the corner members 26 of the bottom of the receptacle are caused to contract or expand and in doing so when the receptacle A is closed the corner members it are caused to follow with the members 26 and thus the receptacle A is expanded or contracted in accordance with the operation of the drive screws 29. The pair of drive screws 29 are positioned below the pair of transverse shafts I! which support the corner members l6 of the top M. The drive screws 29 are operated in unison by the chain drive 32. I provide a guard 33 over the chain drive 32 to protect the operator.

The rear drive screw 29 is connected by the transmission 34 which is enclosed within the housing 35 and the transmission 34 is operated by the electric motor 36 through the V drive belt 31.

The motor 36 is adapted to be operated by the switch within the box 38 and this switch is operated b the hand lever 39 positioned near the front of the machine. By operating the lever 39 in one direction the electric motor 36 will rotate the transmission 34 in a predetermined direction to expand the receptacle A and by moving the lever 39 in the opposite direction the motor 36 through the transmission 34 will operate the screws 29 to contract the receptacle A. I provide an arm or shaft 40 projecting from the side of the lower portion of the receptacle A as illustrated in Figures 1 and 4 which arm moves with the movement of the corner member 26 supporting the same. Upon the arm 40 I provide a pair of adjustable collars 4| which may be set in a predetermined position and which extend in the path of the arms 42. The arms 42 are connected to the lever 39 through a fixed sleeve on the lever so that when the arms 42 are engaged by either of the collars 4| the switch in the box 38, which controls the motor 36, will be operated to stop the operation of the motor 36 at a predetermined point according to the setting of the adjustable collars 4 I.

It will therefore be apparent that the lever 39 is operated to start the motor 36 to expand or contract the receptacle A and by the movement of the rod 46 either of the collars 4| will be engaged by the arms 42 to open the switch in the box 38 which automatically stops the motor 36. Thus the operator of my cushion filling machine may set the stops 4| in the desired position and then when it is desired to expand or contract the receptacle A, it is only necessary to move the lever 39 in the desired position to cause the motor 36 to start to operate to expand or contract the receptacle A. The motor 36 is automatically stopped by the setting of the collars 4| which engage the arms 42 to operate the switch which stops the motor 36. In this manner I provide an electrically operating means for expanding and contracting the receptacle A and to automatically stop the electric motor at the desired moment. In the operation of my cushion filling machine, the cover or top 4 may be raised at the front as illustrated in the dotted outline in Figure 2 by the operator engaging the lever 43 which operates the lever 44 at the rear of the machine into the dotted position. A counterweight 45 is connected to the rear portion 2| of the arms 2| so as to counter-balance the weight of the cover I 4 to make it easy for the operator to open and close the cover I4 of the receptacle A.

In the operation of the machine the operator will open the cover l4, place the filler material in the bottom of the receptacle and then close the cover M by the operation of the lever 43. Then by operating the lever 39 the motor 36 is caused to operate to contract the receptacle A the desired amount after which the cover of the cushion 46, illustrated in dotted outline in Figure 2 is slipped over the outer end of the receptacle A and while the operator holds the cover 46 on the open end of the receptacle A he presses th foot lever 47. In pressing the foot lever 4'! the operator throws in the clutch 48 and the electric motor 49 which is running, will operate the gears within the casing 56 to rotate the shaft 5| which in turn operates the lever 52 to operate the lever 53 and which in turn operates the lever 54 in the direction of the arrow in Figure 2 to operate the plunger rod 55 and cause the plunger 56 in the casing A to eject the filler material from the casing A into the cover 46.

The clutch 48 is adapted to automatically release in one cycle of operation of the plunger 56 while the motor 49 continues to operate. The cycle of the operation of the plunger 56 is the movement of the same forward in the receptacle A to eject the filler material therein and to return to normal position at the rear of the receptacle A.

Thus the filler material is automatically ejected by the operation of the electric motor 49 when the operator engages the foot pedal ill and causes the clutch 48 to engage to operate the plunger 56. A control switch box 51 is provided for the motor 49. This control box 5? is positioned on the base B at the forward end of the same where the operator of the machine is stationed in the operation of my cushion filling machine.

My cushion filling machine permits the operator to control the machine automatically by electric motors and switches and by means of automatic stopping mechanism for the motor controlling the expansion and contraction of the receptacle and the clutch which operates the plunger. With my machine an operator can fill a large number of cushions in a shorter time than has been done heretofore with old hand operating machines. My machine operates to evenly compress the filler material in the rectangular receptacle A and to permit the operator to quickly and easily slide the cover 46 on to the receptacle. Thus when the filler material is forced out of the receptacle A it will automatically expand into the cover 45 thereby stuffing the cover in an even and uniform manner with the filler. The electrically operating means reduces the manual labor of the operator and makes it easier for the operator to fill or stuff the cushions. Each operation of the machine is quickly accomplished and automatically controlled.

By means of the split bearings 30, the drive screws 29 can be removed and replaced as they become worn and the machine may be more easily disassembled. The working parts are enclosed within the base B and thus the operator is protected while he stands at the front of the machine where he places the filler within the receptacle A and slips the cover 46 on to the same and operates the machine to stuff the cover of the pillow or cushion automatically. Heretofore these operations had to be accomplished by hand; by means of my improved machine the hand labor is replaced by electrically operating means and automatic controls thus saving time and making the operator more efficient in his work.

I claim:

1. A cushion filling machine including a base frame made of angle iron rim members, sheet metal plate members extending between said arrnular iron rim members, an adjustable receptacle member for receiving filler material positioned on top of said base, a pair of driving screws for adjustably operating said receptacle, a ram in said receptacle for expelling the filler material therefrom, an electric motor for operating said ram, an electric motor for operating said driving screws and means for automatically stopping said driving screws by stopping the motor operating the same at a predetermined point including a lever, arms on said lever spaced apart at a predetermined distance, an arm projecting from the side of said receptacle, collars adjustably spaced apart on said ,arm at a predetermined distance on said arm adapted to contact said arms on said lever to stop said motor and thereby automatically regulate the width of said receptacle.

2. A cushion filling machine including an enclosing base, an expandable and contractable filler receptacle, a pair of left and right hand drive screws positioned beneath said receptacle for expanding and contracting said filler receptacle, an electric motor and transmission for driving one of said screws, said driven screw connected by a chain to the other of said drive screws on the opposite side of said machine from that of said transmission, a shaft extending from said receptacle, collars spaced on said shaft, a hand lever positioned at right angles to said shaft and controlling an electrical switch, arms formed on said lever adapted to be moved by said collars to stop said electric motor to automatically determine the size of said filler receptacle, a second electric motor, a ram positioned in said receptacle, clutch driven by said second motor adapted to operate linking means for moving said ram forward and backward in said filler receptacle.

3. A cushion and pillow filler comprising a base, an expandable receptacle for filler material positioned on said base, screw means having right and left hand threads for expanding and contracting said receptacle, an electric motor mounted on one side of said base, a transmission adapted to be driven by said motor, said screw means adapted to be driven by said transmission, a switch controlling said motor, means for automatically operating said switch to expand or contract said receptacle to a predetermined width by the stopping of said motor, hand operating means for controlling said switch to start said motor, a ram positioned within said receptacle, a second electric motor within said base, a gear reduction unit operated by said second motor, clutch means connecting said gear reduction unit with said ram and foot operating means for controlling said clutch to cause second motor to operate said ram to force the filling material from said receptacle into a covering slipped over the open end of the receptacle.

MARTIN H. LANG.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,482,063 Baer Jan. 29, 1924 1,724,030 Lang Aug. 13, 1929 1,955,533 Coffman Apr. 17, 1934 2,099,897 Lang Nov. 23, 1937 

